


Thunder

by callmecaramleh



Series: Zukka Week 2019 [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Day 1: Modern, Fluff, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Mutual Pining, Zukka Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-13 19:22:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17493791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmecaramleh/pseuds/callmecaramleh
Summary: Zuko gets a bit of a crush on the cute boy doing stand up at the bar he's at.





	Thunder

**Author's Note:**

> Do you ever think you're going to write a short little fic honoring the city you live in with your favorite fictional gays and then it gets out of hand and 1000 words turns into 8000? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little mess. It has not been proofread yet but I wanted to get it published before the end of the day. Happy Zukka week!!

**April 14th**

It was his Uncle that had suggested moving to Nashville. As soon as Zuko had expressed that he found living in his father’s house all too stifling, Iroh had schemed the plan. His father, while generally disapproving of all of Zuko’s life choices, at least had no problem with Zuko moving closer to where Azula was going to school. Although Zuko wished he could avoid her, it was near impossible while he was living off Mai’s couch, waiting to find a suitable living situation in the city. Once he had his own place he could become the hermit he always wanted to be.

As is, the girls would not allow it.

“ZuZu,” Azula called, coming out of Mai’s room, “We’re going to a bar. Do be a dear and drive us? You don’t want us dying a miserable death because of drunk driving, do you?”

Zuko was not sure he’d mind Azula’s death, but Mai’s would be quite a loss. She was one of the few people he knew in the world that he could talk to without becoming totally exhausted.

“Fine.”

In general, there were two types of bars in Nashville: the tourist country bar and pretentious hipster bar. This one was much more of the latter, low lit with unshowered bartenders, but some of the cowboy boot wearing patrons of Nashville had seemed to have snuck in for an open mic night. In general, the singers all blended together, none of them bad but none of them particularly worthy of the coveted Nashville record deal, yet listening to their music at least gave Zuko something to do while Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai gabbed about school stuff that he couldn’t understand.

“So our next performer,” called the announcer, a skeevey looking man with too many muscles and long, greasy black hair, “Is actually not a musician. All the way from LA we have Sokka doing some comedy for us.”

Taking the stage was a man about Zuko’s age, tan skin and hair pulled back into a little sprout of a ponytail. He wore a blue aloha shirt, unbuttoned far lower than what was normally deemed decent, loosely tucked into black jeans. Zuko also couldn’t help but focus on the white choker necklace he was wearing.

“Ooo, who’s that hottie?” he heard Ty Lee saying. Zuko was instantly disappointed. When Ty Lee had her sights set on someone, she rarely didn’t win their hearts. It wasn’t that Zuko would have ever made a move on this guy, and would probably never see him again, but that didn’t make the idea of Ty Lee’s tongue down the boy’s throat any better.

“Hey, yeah, I’m Sokka, but actually instead of comedy I thought I’d try something a little different tonight. Recently I got into writing poetry. Anybody in the crowd write poetry?”

Ty Lee swatted at Zuko’s arm to try to get him to raise it, but there was no way that he was brave enough for that. No one else raised their hand either.

“See? Of course not, poetry fucking sucks. So, without further ado, please listen to some haikus I’ve written.”

The haikus did end up being surprisingly funny, each one punctuated with a “terrible, am I right?” as those in the crowd that were listening would chuckle. He even managed to get a smile out of Zuko, who rarely laughed at anything. He thought maybe the man was looking over at their table a bit more than the others, but it was to be expected with Ty Lee laughing a little too loudly. It annoyed him, but he couldn’t blame her. She had a good eye.

“He was funny!” she said excitedly when he finished his set.

“Funny? He was a total oaf. Amy Schumer could have written better jokes. I mean, come on, comedic haikus? How juvenile,” Azula said.

“He wasn’t so bad,” Mai answered, which Zuko supposed was a high compliment coming from a girl who had managed to go 21 years without so much as smiling with her teeth.

“Whatever,” Azula said, not liking to be outnumbered, “Zuko, go get us another round of drinks.”

Zuko sighed, but got out of his chair anyway. After years of living with Azula he had learned to pick his fights carefully. He didn’t need to be reminded of all his failures just because he didn’t want to get up and walk ten feet to the bar.

It definitely would have been faster for one of the girls to go—men with awkward lengthed hair and big scars across their face didn’t tend to get particularly good service. His only choice was to linger, leaning forward, his “excuse me’s” lost on the world. One of the bartenders had definitely noticed him by then, and he supposed that they’d get to him eventually, after serving the more pretty patrons.

“Not having any luck?”

Zuko turned to find the comedian leaning at the bar beside him. He was grinning, his teeth bright white.

“No, I suppose not,” Zuko answered.

“What’re you drinking?”

“Oh, nothing, I’m DDing to night. I’m supposed to be getting my friends’ drinks.”

“Right, well... Chit Sang!” the man said, getting the attention of one of the more terrifying bartenders, “Could you help my friend get the drinks he needs for those lovely ladies over there?” Sokka motioned to his table where Ty Lee was now giving a little wave, all smiles and bounce.

“What do you need?” Chit Sang asked, gruffly but not entirely rudely.

“Uhh, a jack and coke, a dirty martini, and a Long Island iced tea.”

While Chit Sang started working on the drinks, the comedian turned back to Zuko. “I’m Sokka by the way.”

“Zuko,” he replied, “I, uh, liked your jokes.” He was suspicious, of course. There was a good chance that Sokka was only talking to him to get information on Ty Lee. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened.

“Thanks! I’m trying to get my comedy style to be the love child of Bo Burnham and John Mulaney with Cameron Esposito as the surrogate mother.”

“I don’t really know that much about comedy,” Zuko said, scratching at the back of his neck. He wasn’t used to talking to guys outside of the gay clubs he frequented when depressed, and at that point they rarely cared what he talked about. Trying to form conversation with someone he thought was attractive was not in his area of expertise.

“Oh you have to watch their specials!” Sokka replied, “They’re on Netflix. Wait, no, Cameron’s is on her website. Here, give me your phone number and I’ll text you the link.”

Sokka was already shoving his phone into Zuko’s hands. This had certainly never happened to Zuko before. He had about twenty people saved into his phone, and was only ever really in contact with about four of them. Even with the evidence, his brain kept telling him that there was no way that this attractive man could actually be interested in talking to him. Still, being a pawn in getting to Ty Lee seemed better than nothing at this point.

Zuko handed back the phone, hoping he wasn’t blushing. “There you go...”

“Do you go to school around here?” Sokka asked.

“Oh, no. I graduated from Northwestern last year. I just moved down here. My sister and her friends go to Vanderbilt though.”

“My sister goes there too,” Sokka said excitedly, “I flew in to visit her, but I’m only here through Tuesday.”

“Oh,” Zuko said, failing at hiding his disappointment, “Well its very nice of you to come all this way to visit her.”

“She thinks I’m just here to annoy her, which, quite honestly, is the truth. I found out she had a new boyfriend and rushed right over here. I’ve gotta look out for my little sis.”

“Mine would kill me if I did that,” Zuko replied, “She can take care of herself.”

“Which ones your sister?”

“The one with her hair in the bun.”

“Yeah, to be honest they all look kind of terrifying. You don’t though.”

Zuko found that hard to believe. He did have a giant scar on his face after all. Before he could answer Sokka, however, Chit Sang finished the drinks.

“Let me help you carry those,” Sokka said.

“It’s fine, I’ve got it,” and he did. Years of gymnastics and martial arts had made his balance impeccable. Three drinks in two hands wasn’t particularly difficult for him. “I, um, well... send me those comedians and I’ll be sure to watch them.”

He thought he probably sounded a little too eager, but Sokka either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Sokka gave him the affirmative before telling him it was great to meet him and letting Zuko head back to the table.

“He’s gay,” Ty Lee said disparagingly as Zuko sat down, “He’s the only hot guy in this whole bar and he’s not at all interested in my very expensive boobs.”

“Seems like they were a waste of money,” Mai responded.

“I’m not totally sure he was gay,” Zuko said, trying to change the subject.

“Please ZuZu, could you be more obtuse?” Azula asked “He asked for your phone number. Straight men don’t just get the numbers of fellow bar patrons.”

“Well he’s not in town long... It’s not like it could come to anything anyway.”

“Not in town long is the best, dummy!” Ty Lee responded, “You get to be whoever you want, have a whole little romance, and then poof! You never have to think of them again.”

Zuko had to admit that the appeal was not lost on him. He didn’t like to get to the point in the relationship where he fucked it all up. That’s how you end up with your father having to pay your ex not to leak your nudes after a devastatingly messy breakup. Zuko hadn’t dated since Jet in his freshman year, more out of fear than a lack of wanting someone. Love seemed like a fantasy to him, and was something he had never seen in real life.

Still, when they got back that night, the girls all asleep in Mai’s room, he pulled out his phone and looked at the text he had received.

_Sokka here! John Mulaney and Bo Burnham are the ones on Netflix, and then Cameron Esposito’s is on her website. You can just google her. Hope you enjoy them!_

Zuko put on Mulaney’s special, and found it pretty funny. He particularly liked his bit about night shirts, even managing to chuckle at it. When he had finished it, though it was probably way too late to be texting someone, he sent back his reply.

_Watched Kid Gorgeous. I liked it. The night shirt jokes were very funny. Thank you for telling me about it._

And then, in a fit of sleepy boldness, he sent another.

_He wasn’t as funny as you though._

**April 15th**

Even with staying up late, Zuko still woke up as the sun was rising the next day. His body was on a strict alarm clock that never allowed him to sleep in. He yawned, rolled off the couch, and went to the kitchen to make some tea. It was a habit after spending so much time with his Uncle. After the fire, his father never liked to leave the house unattended, which meant Iroh was always there waiting for him after school. In high school he found it agitating, like having a baby sitter, but as soon as he got to college he missed having the constant access to his Uncle’s advice.

He went for a lavender and lemongrass blend, and tried his best to pay attention to how long he was steeping it for, but his eyes kept drifting shut. Zuko was awake, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t sleepy.

With his tea properly steeped and overly sugared he returned to the couch. It would still be a while before his friends would wake up, which gave him time to work through the biography of the Bronte sisters that he was reading. He didn’t even remember sending Sokka those texts until he got a reply.

_thanks but you’re wrong. John Mulaney is the number one guy named John in the world. I could never beat him._

Zuko blushed, remembering the perhaps desperate compliment he had given the night before, but still couldn’t stop the grin at Sokka’s response.

_Not with that attitude._

The replies kept coming, and Zuko kept answering. Sokka asked what he was doing, teased him for his choice of book, and pretended to be impressed that Zuko had been an English Major, despite the fact that he was in no way successful at it. Zuko learned that Sokka never went to college, instead working with his dad doing house repairs to pay the bills while he pursued comedy. He threw out a bunch of comedy names and lingo that Zuko didn’t understand, and had managed to recommend him three podcasts before the girls had even woken up.

When they did wake up, they dragged him along to breakfast at this uppity restaurant they liked where even the sweet breakfast options were healthy. He had a deep resentment for their whole grain French toast.

“What do you keep looking at your phone for?” Mai asked, stealing a chunk of avocado from his plate.

“Uh, nothing really,” he replied. Zuko had never been a good liar, which, in this case, lead to his phone being stolen out of his hands by his very evil sister.

“Sokka? That’s the name of that comedian, right?” she said, “You’re really going with Ty Lee’s weekend romance plan? You can’t really be so depressed that you need some idiot peasant type to play with for a few days.”

“Give me my phone back,” Zuko said. Azula did not, of course, instead choosing to pass it to Ty Lee.

“So you don’t deny it then,” Azula answered.

“I’m just talking to him, lay off,” Zuko replied.

“Ooo, he replied!” Ty Lee said, “He wants to know if you want to hang out on Monday while his sister is in class. I’m telling him that you do.”

Zuko groaned. He didn’t need other people making and critiquing his decision for him.

“Ty Lee, give Zuko his phone back, his whining is annoying me,” Mai said. Ty Lee huffed but returned it. Her message was still unsent, and he erased it quickly, not wanting to giving it a chance to be mistakenly sent. Later in the meal he moved another of his avocados onto Mai’s plate to show his gratitude.

When they got back, and Ty Lee and Azula had gone back to their own apartments, Zuko finally sent his reply.

_Sure. The coffee shop I go to is pretty close to the school. We could meet there?”_

Sokka agreed, which immediately lead Zuko to digging through his clothes for the right thing to wear the next day.

**April 16th**

Mai was not one to entertain all of Zuko’s nerves, refusing to give Zuko an opinion other than “you look fine” when he asked about an outfit. This lead to the bland but flattering outfit of a black T-shirt with his dark jeans and doc martens. He resented his hair for being at such an awkward length. His attempt at growing it out left it in an awkward stage of inbetween mullety shagginess. Zuko hoped that arm muscles would distract from the travesty going on above shoulders.

When Zuko pulled up to the coffee shop, Sokka was already there lingering by the door. He wore those skinny adidas pants with an oversized Star Wars T-shirt and a pale blue beanie. It looked like he wasn’t even trying and he still seemed way out of Zuko’s league.

Sokka waved as Zuko got out of his car, and Zuko waved back, smiling awkwardly.

“Hey,” Zuko said, once he got close enough.

“Good to see you,” Sokka said, “This place looks cool. You come here a lot?”

“Yeah, it’s good for writing,” Zuko said as they walked in. Either wall of the building was completely covered in windows, natural light streaming in. The remaining walls were white with a light blue trim. Rather than individual tables there were just incredibly long ones with clusters of people spread out amongst them. The barista station was situated like an island in the middle of the shop, and totally open so that you could watch the fancy ways in which they prepared coffee. A Conor Oberest album was playing on vinyl.

“Hey Zuko,” the barista, Jin, said as he approached the register, “Blue Crane tea?”

“Yes, thank you, and whatever my friend here wants,”

Jin smiled and turned to Sokka. Zuko thought her look seemed slightly mischievous, but he tried to ignore it. He didn’t want to let a fear of being teased get in the way of a potentially nice time.

“Uhhh,” said Sokka, “What is good and also coffee?”

“Are you looking for something sweet?” Jin asked.

“Yeah.”

“Well then I suggest the bourbon vanilla. The mocha is good too.”

“Vanilla sounds great,” Sokka said. Zuko paid and got the tag for their order before leading Sokka to an open spot near the window.

“I’m glad you could hang out today,” Sokka said, “You don’t work or anything?”

“Oh, uh, no,” Zuko answered, “Not yet at least. I just moved down here a month or so ago, so I’m still applying places.”

Or, at least, he was supposed to be. He had spent at least three hours staring at his outdated resume, trying to will himself into fixing it, but to no avail. If he actually did it—made the application nice and sent it out—then he might have to face rejection. He had gone through enough of that in his lifetime to not want any more of it.

“That makes sense,” Sokka answered, “I’m sure you’ll find something soon.”

“Thanks...” Before, when his only friends were his sister, Mai, and Ty Lee, he didn’t think much of being employed. Now he found it ridiculously embarrassing. He was an adult and needed to act like one.

There was a pause before Sokka tried breaching a new subject. It was awkward. Zuko hadn’t been out with someone in years. He didn’t know what to do with himself.

“I tried stalking you,” Sokka started, “Like, on Twitter and Instagram and stuff. Katara, my sister, wanted to see a picture of you and proof that you weren’t a murderer. But we couldn’t find you, so now she’s convinced that you’re definitely going to kill me.”

“Uh, yeah, no, I’m not on social media,” Zuko answered, “My dad is a Senator. We were never allowed to have them as kids and now I just think it’d be a pain.”

“Shit, really?” Sokka asked, “Is he a Senator here in Tennessee?”

“No, we’re from Oklahoma.”

“The Sooners! Kyler Murray is honestly everything I want to be when I grow up even though we are literally the same age.”

“Football stresses me out if I’m being honest. My whole family watches standing up and shouting. I prefer basketball.”

“The Thunder is also great. I love that Steven Adams.”

“Yeah, he’s great,” Zuko replied, “Him and Schröder are my favorites. They’re all good though.”

“The little German guy?”

“I mean, he’s 6’1.”

“Yeah but Adams is literally 7 foot so he seems tiny.”

“I guess that’s fair.”

“So if your dad is a Senator in Oklahoma,” Sokka said, “Is he, like, super conservative?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Zuko replied.

“And he doesn’t care that you’re not straight?” Sokka asked, “I mean, you’re not, right? I’m not crazy for thinking this is a date?”

“I, um, was hoping it was a date,” Zuko replied, “My Dad doesn’t mind so much anymore. We kept it secret when I was younger but once same-sex marriage was legalized it became less of a big deal. He likes to be able to say things like ‘I might not approve of my son’s lifestyle, but I love my son, and if the federal government will let him marry then I’m happy to go to his wedding.’”

“God, he sounds awful.”

Zuko shrugged. His dad wasn’t so bad on a day to day basis. He called once a week to check in, maybe for fifteen minutes, and he rarely said anything that was outright mean anymore. In general it didn’t even seem like his father had any problems with him being gay outside of how it affected his career. Sure, he would occasionally drop comments on how he wished Zuko would be more like Azula, and yes, Zuko could barely bring himself to look him in the eye sometimes, but truthfully his relationship with his father was getting better, not worse. He could deal.

Jin came over and set there drinks down in front of them, smiling at Zuko. He liked her smile. She was kind, and he appreciated her for it.

“I’m going to grab some sugar. Do you need anything?” Zuko asked Sokka. Sokka replied that he didn’t, so Zuko stood and got four packets of sugar in the raw from the stand in the corner. He returned and emptied two of them into the tea cup. (One thing he loved about the Barista Parlor was that the tea came with a glass tea pot with even more tea. There was, however, the difficulty of trying to keep the sugar to tea ratio correct.)

“I’m surprised you don’t get kicked out for using that much sugar here,” Sokka said.

“If I’m being quite honest,” Zuko began, “The first several times I came here I didn’t put any sugar in my tea out of fear of judgement.”

Sokka laughed. “Well I’m glad found the bravery to sugar the tea the way you like.”

“I like sweet things,” Zuko said with a shrug.

“Like me,” Sokka replied, grinning.

“I think that remains to be seen,” Zuko answered, “You’re friendly, but you have a natural mischievousness to you.”

“Mm, I guess that’s true,” Sokka said, taking a sip of his coffee. He ended up with a foam mustache. When Zuko chuckled at it, Sokka licked it off his lips in a manner that he supposed was meant to be seductive. That only made Zuko laugh harder.

“You proved my point for me.”

“You’re welcome,” Sokka answered, grinning. He was too charming. Zuko wanted to kiss the smile off his lips, but he could never be so bold.

“...So did you meet your sister’s boyfriend yet?” Zuko asked, trying to distract himself from the overwhelming urge to prod Sokka’s flirtatious side further. He wasn’t sure that he couldn’t take anymore of it while keeping himself in once piece.

“Yeah. Bit of a weirdo. He’s a yoga instructor and he’s bald and looks like he should be super chill, but then talking to him is like talking to an overly excited puppy. Nice though. I don’t suspect him of being an asshole to Katara or anything.”

“That’s good at least,” Zuko replied.

“Yeah, it’ll be a good change of pace for her. She usually likes a bad boy and it never ends well.”

“I see,” Zuko said, trying not to think about Jet. Zuko had never really seen him as much of a bad boy, what with his constant protests of government corruption and all, but he certainly fit the look of one. Cigarettes and leather jackets were the staples of his look. Zuko had always thought he was gentlemanly for making sure Zuko was standing out of the way of his smoke.

“What kind of person do you like?” Sokka asked.

Zuko almost wanted to play into Sokka’s hand and say funny or something that was so obviously the boy in front of him, but it didn’t seem honest. He thought for a moment, before deciding.

“I like guys who are passionate about something,” he said, “And bold.”

Sokka smiled. “Passionate and bold? I think I’ve got both of those traits in spades, dontcha think?”

“That seems probable. I think I’d have to know you a bit longer to verify completely,” Zuko answered, “...What about you? What do you look for?”

“Uh, I don’t know. I think I’m just looking for someone that I can always count on, you know? Someone sturdy and reliable.”

“Right...” Zuko replied. He knew Sokka had been flirting, had even called this a date, but he was suddenly reminded that it couldn’t be permanent. Zuko couldn’t be that person that Sokka could always lean on when he was halfway across the country. Heartbreak had been planned from the start, but it didn’t make Zuko feel it any less. Their first date wasn’t even over and Zuko was already feeling the dread of a break up.

“And hot, of course,” Sokka added.

Zuko snickered. “Of course.”

The date continued, Zuko a mixture of delight, dread, longing, and awkwardness. For as nervous as he was, Sokka was extremely easy to talk to, and Zuko never felt truly uncomfortable. He liked Sokka, and considered it a damn shame.

“Katara is back at her dorm. I should probably get going,” Sokka said. Zuko resisted the urge to imply that he’d rather that Sokka blew off his sister to continue their date.

“Of course. Did you drive here or did you need a ride back?” Zuko asked, hoping to draw this out as long as possible.

“A ride back would be great,” Sokka replied.

Zuko put their cups in the return bin, throwing away his empty sugar packets before leading Sokka back to his car. He wondered if it’d be too weird to hold Sokka’s hand, but as soon as he got the nerve to they were already at his car.

“You have a _Volvo_?” Sokka asked as he got in the passenger seat.

“Yeah...”

“You’re a classic teen romcom rich guy. I love it. You’ve got the car and the brooding and the hotness. It’s perfect.”

“I tried my best to keep the brooding to a minimum,” Zuko joked as he pulled out of the parking lot. It was quite the feat, considering all his brain wanted to do was remind him that Sokka had just called him hot.

“Yeah, but that’s just a first date cover, I’m sure. I can sense the brooding beneath. You read Bronte. If that doesn’t scream, ‘Brooding McBroodface,’ I don’t know what would.”

“They’re classic authors. Everyone who didn’t cheat their way through high school has read a Bronte,” Zuko defended, glancing over at Sokka. The sun was illuminating his whole face, making him look almost shadowless. He was smiling and it was blinding.

“Yeah but no one in their right mind reads a Bronte _biography_ ,” Sokka pointed out.

“That... is honestly a good point.”

“See, there’s no point fighting. I’m always right.”

Zuko rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but grin. “Fine, fine. Where do you want me to drop you off?”

“That building over there is fine,” Sokka said, pointing, “I think that’s where Katara’s class was. Let’s hope so.”

“Right,” Zuko said, pulling the car up next to the building, “So I guess this is goodbye?”

“Yeah,” Sokka said, rubbing at the back of his neck, “If you’re ever in LA...”

“I’ll text you,” Zuko said. He tried looking in Sokka’s eyes, willing himself or Sokka to make some first move, but, quickly remembering he had a giant scar on his face, he turned away, letting his hair cover it. He wanted to kiss Sokka, but as was often the case, people didn’t want to kiss anyone who looked like him, or was awkward like him.

 _It went well_ , he tried to remind himself, _You had fun. He seemed to enjoy himself fine. You got you to drink your favorite tea._

_And now it’s over_

“Thanks again for hanging out with me,” Sokka said as he stepped out of the car, “I would have been so bored.”

“Me too.”

“Well.... Goodbye.”

“Bye. Good meeting you.”

**April 25th**

It had been more than a week since Zuko saw Sokka, but he couldn’t seem to get him out of his head. Every time he tried to sleep he would kept up by thoughts of Sokka, specifically of why he himself was so stupid and didn’t kiss him when he had the chance. Zuko tried reasoning with himself, arguing that it would have been worse to have Sokka so far if he knew what the kissing part was like, but it didn’t do much for him. Sokka was the first guy that Zuko really liked since Jet, and he had forgotten how bad the pining could feel.

He had been trying to keep his distance from Sokka, which shouldn’t have been as hard as it was considering the actual space between them. Zuko had started taking desperate measures, turning his phone off when it tempted him too much, busying himself by actually applying for jobs, and delving into Jane Austen novels at full force.

Zuko was surprised, therefore, when turning his phone back on after caving and watching Comeback Kid, that he had a text from Sokka. He had done such a good job of not messaging Sokka that it never occurred to him that the comedian could talk to him first.

_Hey, weird thing, but some of my friends were asking about my trip and I told them about you and they wanted pictures but you don’t have an Instagram and I’ll be honest here I tried just googling you but all the pics that came up with you and your dad are from so long ago? So anyway, is there anyway you have a pic of you I could use to brag to my friends?_

His eyes read over the message again and again, his skin turning a shade redder each time he did so. Sokka had seen pictures of him as a tiny 16 year old in a two big suit pretending to be a straight republican. Sokka had told his friends about him. Sokka wanted a picture of him. Sokka was flirting.

It took him an entire minute to get a grip on his life, switching his phone into camera mode and trying to take a picture. He wouldn’t disappoint Sokka.

Of course, the lighting in the living room was all wrong and made him look freakishly pale. He was freakishly pale, but he didn’t want to remind anyone of that. Zuko then set to work finding the best light and his best angle (Outside, unscarred side of his face, from slightly above), and took about twenty pictures like that before he deemed one sendable.

 _Does this work ok?_ he sent along with the picture, praying that it did. He didn’t want to waste another twenty minutes of his life taking selfies.

 _Yeah, my friend Toph thinks you’re a real looker,”_ Sokka answered, and then added in a separate message, _Of course, she’s blind, so her opinion doesn’t really count, but my other friends think you look nice too_

While Zuko was still typing and erasing and retyping his response, another message came. It was a picture, in the background of which were faces that Zuko didn’t recognize. On one side, two girls, one of them in deep tinted aviators, presumably Toph, and the other one wearing extremely well executed makeup, like something off an Instagram tutorial. On the other side was a boy in a wheelchair making peace signs with both hands. Sokka was in the center of the picture, his big smiling head taking up most of the foreground. Zuko grinned, despite being alone, despite it being just a picture, despite the fact that he didn’t need a silly crush on a boy that lived a 5 hour plane ride away.

Quantifying it didn’t help diminish the feeling like he had hoped. Once he thought it, he couldn’t help but argue that five hours wasn’t so long, that it was a nonstop ticket, and what was $200 dollars of his dad’s money anyway?

 _Your friends seem cool_ , Zuko wrote back, not trusting himself to comment on Sokka’s winning smile or that it looked like he had reshaved his undercut since they had last seen each other.

_Yeah, I love them. Toph is the one in the sunglasses, and then there’s Suki who is way too cool to be hanging out with me, and finally the whiz kid Teo._

That night Zuko stayed up way too late learning about Sokka’s friends. He even managed to not get jealous that Suki was his high school sweetheart or that he spent most of his free time working on strange engineering experiments with Teo. While he was texting him it was like the map had folded and LA and Nashville weren’t so far anymore.

**May 2nd**

_Good luck on your interview today!_

Zuko couldn’t believe that Sokka remembered that. He had told him the last time they had messaged each other, but it had just been in passing. It wasn’t a particularly good job—it had almost embarrassed Zuko to mention it to Sokka—but it would get him out of the house. His life had turned into 24/7 Bronte and ice cream. If he wanted to be happy he’d have to escape the couch.

_Thank you. I’m nervous._

Zuko was applying to teach children martial arts. He knew he was more than competent in athletic aspects, but when it came to dealing with children he wasn’t so sure. Hopefully the dojo would be desperate enough for a qualified martial artist to overlook his lack of experience with youths.

_Don’t be, you’ll do great_

**June 23rd**

It had been months since Sokka had last texted him. Zuko had far too much fear to text first, figuring that Sokka had any interest in considering this long distance friendship, then he would be in contact. That left Zuko to pretend that he didn’t still think about him at least once a week, trying to carry on his life as normal. He went to work, which he found himself surprisingly enjoying, spent his weekends camped out at Barista Parlor trying to write something decent, and spent his time at home watching romantic comedies with Mai. Zuko would get way into them, while Mai gave snarky commentary. Their current favorite was Snow White and the Huntsman. Not even Mai could resist Kristen Stewart’s charms.

Everything was going as usual until, scanning through the news for any mentions of things he’d try to get up the courage to argue with his father, he saw mentions of the wildfires in California. Zuko hadn’t been able to read more than a sentence before he felt his chest tightening. He could taste the smoke in his lungs, feel the stinging on his throat. Without thinking he pulled the collar of his tshirt up to cover his mouth and nose. It wouldn’t help. It wasn’t real. He knew all this, and yet that couldn’t stop the feelings.

Zuko pulled out his phone, not even embarrassed enough to second guess his decision.

“Zuko?” He hadn’t heard Sokka’s voice in months, and he hadn’t realized he had missed it so much. Just hearing it was enough for him to breathe a little easier, dropping his tshirt collar.

“Hey… Uh… Sorry for the random call,” he started, feeling his tongue tumbling over the words.

“No, it’s fine, did you need something?” Sokka asked.

“I just saw the news about all the fires and I just… Wanted to make sure you were ok?”

“Oh totally. They’re not anywhere near LA,” Sokka replied and Zuko let out another breath.

“Good, good. I knew it was a bit ridiculous but I was just… worried. I was in a pretty bad fire when I was a kid…” Zuko was surprised himself by saying it. He couldn’t remember a time when he had talked about the fire out loud. It had always something that he tried to push into a dark corner of his mind, pretending that he was ignoring the ever growing dark mass of fear and pain. Telling Sokka seemed to diminish it ever so slightly, which confused him. He had expected acknowledging it to make it worse, doubling it in enormity, and yet with Sokka it was the opposite.

“I’m sorry. That’s really awful. And your concern isn’t silly. I really appreciate the thought.” Sokka’s voice, even through the phone, sounded so genuine. Zuko found himself wishing he could hear it in person again, which is when he realized his mistake. Sokka was far away, was not particularly interested in him, and was therefore not a person that he could sustain a relationship with.

“And I really appreciate you answering your phone,” Zuko said, against his better judgement.

“Oh I’d always answer the phone for you,” Sokka replied, and Zuko could almost hear the smile in his voice, “And, you know, if you ever need to talk about anything--bad memories or how much you hated Solo--I’m just text message away.”

“I mean, Solo was mostly bad because of wishy washy gender politics and bad, mid-production direction changes.”

Zuko spend the rest of Sokka’s morning commute talking to him about the Star Wars franchise. Sokka had plenty of awful opinions, including a bizarre love of Phantom Menace and an insistence that the only logical explanation for Rey’s parenthood is that Kylo Ren lied and she was Han Solo’s bastard child, but Zuko liked hearing him defend those awful opinions despite himself.

**June 29th**

It was past midnight. Normally Zuko would have been asleep, but he was caught in the last hundred pages of Villette, which meant he had no choice but to stay up and finish them. He was so caught up in the story that he almost didn’t notice his phone vibrating next to him, but when he checked who it was, he was happy to take a break from Bronte.

“Sokka, how are you?” Zuko said.

“Very drunk!” Sokka’s voice was a little too loud, and yet Zuko could still hear the background noise of Ariana Grande music and party chatter seeping in behind him.

“Are you ok? Have you drank any water?” Zuko asked.

“I am feeling great, I have a large glass of water in my hand and am currently imagining myself drinking it. Eventually it will get drunk--drank?--drinked?-- because Suki won’t let me have any more alcohols until all of it is gone.”

“Well it’s good to hear that someone is taking care of you.”

“I wish it were youuuu taking care of me,” Sokka whined, “I miss you.”

Zuko tried not to overthink the words of someone who was drunk, but he couldn’t quite ignore the smile forcing its way across his cheeks.

“I miss you too, Sokka,” Zuko said, all heavy sincerity in his voice.

“All I want to do everyday is watch Star Wars with you and play with your hair and let you try to convince me that Kylo Ren is not the worst person of all time.”

Zuko wanted to imagine that world--imagine being able to spend copious amounts of time cooped up with Sokka, being able to touch and not just read each other’s words. He knew it was silly for the crush to go on as long as it had, and yet he couldn’t shake it. He had even tried going on a few tinder dates to try to rid his heart of the ache of long distance, but none of them had stuck. They might have been nice people, but they sure weren’t Sokka.

“Listen, Kylo Ren is right that the unjust systems that are in place and the intense idol worship of the corrupt Jedi needed to be stopped,” Zuko said, not letting himself entertain the romantic whims of a drunk man, “And who can’t relate to Zuko’s internal struggle of light and dark?”

“I can’t relate!” Sokka defended, “Light all the way! Fuck the dark.”

“That’s not balance then,” Zuko replied.

“We don’t actually need balance, we just need only good people. Good people and Darth Maul because he was hot.

“Now that we can agree on.”

**October 24th**

Zuko was sure that him and Sokka were a thing of the past. They hadn’t talked since Sokka’s drunk romantic confession, which seemed to put an end to everything. It was like putting the feelings out there had either embarrassed Sokka enough to where he wouldn’t speak to Zuko again, or perhaps that getting the feelings off of his chest had been enough for him to get past them. Zuko himself was getting better at not thinking about Sokka so much. When he was in a particularly romantic mood he would miss him, but it was no longer a daily occurence. He would be all right.

That was until Sokka decided to sent Zuko a picture of him in his halloween costume. His hair was worn down for once, somehow looking done and disheveled at the same time. He wore a plain white shirt, unbuttoned fairly low, with a dark vest, dark wash jeans, and holster. Sokka was by far hotter than Alden Ehrenreich, though between Sokka and Harrison Ford it was a bit of a toss up.

 _I love you,_ Zuko sent back before he could stop himself.

 _I know,_ Sokka replied.

**November 6th**

_Happy election day, I hope your dad fails miserably._

_Yeah, me too._

_Also I wanted to let you know that I’ll be in town for Christmas. My dad wanted to fly out there so he could see what Katara’s life was like and everything. Maybe we could hang out one day?_

_I wish I could, but Azula and me are going to Oklahoma for the holidays. Next time though!_

_Bummer!_

**December 21st**

Zuko was not particularly fond of airports. There was so many components on air travel to go wrong--losing luggage, being late, or falling out of the sky, etc--so the whole experience left him feeling nauseous. This left him sitting in a seat by their gate, knees pulled up to his chest, eyes against his legs, while Azula droned on and on about the perfect gift she had found for their father.

The idea of being back in Oklahoma certainly wasn’t helping Zuko’s nerves. He had been enjoying not having to see his father on a regular basis, and now he’d be shoved back into the life of being a Senator’s son. They’d have to go to the big political Christmas Party where important families would scowl at him or make passive aggressive comments like asking if he had a girlfriend or telling him that they’d be praying for him. He’d have to wear an uncomfortable suit and an annoyingly vibrant red tie and someone would definitely try to trick him into getting a haircut. The two hours until they boarded would undoubtedly be spent going over all of these tortures that the holiday season would bring.

“Zuko, pay attention,” Azula said, her voice sharp as she jabbed his shoulder.

“Leave me alone,” Zuko huffed in response.

“I would but your phone is ringing and it’s annoying me.”

Zuko sighed, picking the vibrating phone off the seat. He figured it was Mai telling him he left something behind, or wishing him not awful travels or something of the like. He answered it without checking the caller id.

“Hello?”

“Hey Zuko, important question, are you currently in the Nashville airport?” Zuko’s heart started beating a little faster at just the sound of Sokka’s voice. It had been so long and yet the boy’s affect on him was still all too powerful.

“Uh, yes,” Zuko replied, a little flustered, “Why?”

“Awesome! Ok! Great news. I am also in the Nashville airport. We landed and we were walking to the exit and I thought I saw your sister but like, it would seem weird if I tried to talk to you but it wasn’t you, but anyway, I’m turning around, I will see you in, like, ten seconds.”

Sokka hung up before Zuko could even realize what was happening. He sat up properly, trying to go over what he had just heard. Sokka was here. Sokka was coming towards him. He would get to see Sokka.

Just like that, Zuko caught a glimpse of Sokka’s ponytail rounding the corner. Zuko didn’t even think and just jumped out of his seat, bounding for the other man. He forgot all of his worries about luggage and plane crashes, running as best he could, veering between other travelers. He didn’t stop until Sokka was in his arm.

“Hey buddy,” Sokka said, his voice muffled by Zuko’s shoulder. He was hugging Zuko back, solid arms grounding Zuko to reality.

“It’s so good to see you,” Zuko answered.

There was a cough and Sokka pulled away. Zuko already missed the contact.

“Uh, this is my dad, Hakoda. Dad, this is my friend Zuko,” Sokka said, gesturing to the man beside him. Every part of Hakoda seemed angular, and yet the expression in his eyes still seemed soft.

“Good to meet you Zuko,” Hakoda said.

“You ask well,” Zuko replied, shaking the man’s hand. He had never been more grateful for his father’s insistence on practicing the perfect handshake.

“Does your plane leave soon?” Hakoda asked.

“We’ve still got about two hours,” Zuko answered.

“Well then how about I grab mine and Sokka’s luggage and go monopolize Katara’s time and let you and Sokka have a bit of time to catch up.”

“Are you sure Dad?” Sokka asked, “If you need me--”

“Don’t worry about it Sokka. Have fun with your friend.”

Zuko and Sokka spent next few hours doing exactly what they did over the phone. They talked about Star Wars and the jokes Sokka’s was currently writing, how awful it was going to be for Zuko to go home and how the Thunder was doing so far. Doing all this in person, however, was world’s better than over the phone. It meant that Zuko got to see Sokka’s smile and how his hands waved about when he got excited. It meant that Sokka would shove on his shoulder when he disagreed with him, and he got to pretend to be offended when really all he could think about was how the small touches drove him slightly crazy. It meant that Zuko could see all the shades of blue in Sokka’s eyes.

And it meant that Zuko would have to say goodbye again.

“Don’t get on the plane. Just stay here. You can do Christmas with my family,” Sokka suggested.

“I really wish I could,” Zuko answered, “But my father would probably send someone after me to bring me home, dead or alive.”

“Ok, well then stay and we can go into hiding. We can change our name and grow beards and then we can escape to LA together so that they’ll never find you.”

“I think you underestimate the power of my father’s money.”

“I just missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.”

“ _Now boarding flight 117 to Oklahoma City at gate C12._ ”

“I’ve got to go,” Zuko said, “I’ll call you when my flight lands?”

“Yeah, that would be great,” Sokka said, giving him one final hug, “Come visit me in LA, ok?”

“Will do,” Zuko said, forcing himself to break the hug, “Goodbye Sokka.”

“Goodbye Zuko.”

Zuko felt his heart aching as he turned, joining his sister in the line to board. There was nothing that he wanted more than to stay. Even if his destination wasn’t so dreadful he would still want to stay. Sokka through the telephone was already enough to make his heart skip a beat and butterflies do somersaults in his stomach. Having been reminded of what the real thing was like he now felt as if Sokka was someone he wouldn’t want to live without again. He was funny and intelligent and loud and sincere--everything needed to balance Zuko. The idea of losing him again felt like it was too much.

“Sokka! Wait!” Zuko said, turning back. Sokka hadn’t moved like Zuko had figured he would have. He was waiting to see Zuko off.

“I’m still here,” Sokka said, smiling.

“One last thing,” Zuko said before grabbing the sides of Sokka’s face and kissing him. Normally it would make Zuko nervous to be so affectionate in public, but he refused to miss out on kissing Sokka again. The kiss, of course, was worth it. It was like the rest of the world had gone blurry and the only thing that Zuko could focus on was the warmth radiating from Sokka.

“Don’t go,” Sokka said, pulling away only slightly.

“I really have to,” Zuko said, “But I’ll call you when I land and we’ll pick a week for me to fly to LA.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> lol at this being part three in my collection because I have ones for other days saved into my drafts all nice and tagged


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